The Cunning Wolf

Once upon a time, some people from a certain town went into a forest for an excursion. They want to enjoy the holiday to its fullest. They took baskets full of eatables with them. They ate all the meat they had brought with them till the noon time. They didn’t leave anything for the dinner and suddenly realized that what they would eat in the dinner. They wanted to enjoy the vacation and without proper food, it was quite impossible. 

One of the men said, “There is no need to worry. I will bring some fresh meat. We will make a fire here and roast it. It will be a great fun too”. After saying this, he took a club and went to the lake. He knew that the animals would definitely come to the riverside for drinking water. He lay down on the ground with a club in his hand and pretended as if, he was dead. 

After some time, a group of wolves came down to the lake. When they saw the man lying on the riverside, they kept an eye on him for some time. The King of the wolves said, “I think, this man is playing trick on us. All of you stay here, while I will go and check whether he is really dead or pretending to be dead”. So, the cunning king of the wolves slithered up to the man and pulled his club a little cautiously. The man pulled back his club at once. 

The King of the wolves ran from the place and shouted, “If you had been dead, you would not have pulled back you club when I tried to pull it. I caught your trick. You pretended to be dead so that you may kill one of us for your dinner”. The man quickly jumped up and tried to kill the wolf. He chucked his club at the King of the Wolves. Unfortunately, the man missed his aim and the wolf safely ran away. He looked for the other animals, but none of them was visible. All of them ran away. 

The man got frustrated at this, but could not do anything. Thus, he went back to his friends and said, “I tried to get fresh meat by playing a trick on the animals, but the cunning wolf played a better trick on me. I am sorry. I could not get fresh meat for you”.

The White Elephant

Once upon a time, there lived a herd of eighty thousand elephants at the bottom of the majestic Himalayas. Their leader was a magnificent and rare white elephant who was an extremely kind-hearted soul. He greatly loved his mother who had grown blind and feeble and could not look out for herself.

Each day this white elephant would go deep into the forest in search of food. He would look for the best of wild fruit to send to his mother. But alas... his mother never received any. This was because his messengers would always eat them up themselves. Each night, when he returned home he would be surprised to hear that his mother had been starving all day. He was absolutely disgusted with his herd.

Then one day, he decided to leave them all behind and disappeared in the middle of the night along with his dear mother. He took her to Mount Candorana to live in a cave beside a beautiful lake that was covered by gorgeous pink lotuses.

It so happened that one day, when the white elephant was feeding he heard loud cries. A forester from Benaras City had lost his way in the forest and was absolutely terrified. He had come to the area to visit relatives and could not find his way out.

On seeing this big white elephant he was even more terrified and ran as fast as he could. The elephant followed him and told him not to be afraid, as all he wanted to do was to help him. He asked the forester why he was crying so bitterly. The forester replied that he was crying because he had been roaming the forest for the past seven days and could not find his way out.

The elephant told him not to worry as he knew every inch of this forest and could take him to safety. He then lifted him on to his back and carried him to the edge of the forest from where the forester went on his merry way back to Benaras City.

On reaching the city, he heard that the King's personal elephant had just died and the King was looking for a new elephant. His heralds were roaming the city, announcing that any man who had seen or heard of an elephant fit for a King should come forward with the information.

The forester was very excited and immediately went up to the King and told him about the white elephant that he had seen on Mount Candorana. He told him that he had marked the way and would require the help of the elephant trainers in order to catch this fantastic elephant.

The King was quite pleased with the information and immediately despatched a number of soldiers and elephant trainers along with the forester. After travelling for many days, the group reached the lake beside which the elephants resided. They slowly crept down to the edge of the lake and hid behind the bushes. The white elephant was collecting lotus shoots for his mother's meal and could sense the presence of humans. When he looked up, he spotted the forester and realised that it was he who had led the King's men to him. He was very upset at the ingratitude but decided that if he put up a struggle many of the men would be killed. And he was just too kind to hurt anyone. So he decided to go along with them to Benaras and then request the benevolent King to be set free.

That night when the white elephant did not return home, his mother was very worried. She had heard all the noise outside and had guessed that the King's men had taken away her son. She was scared that the King would ride him in to battle and her son would definitely be killed. She was also worried that there would be no one to look after her or even feed her, as she could not see. She just lay down and cried bitterly.

Meanwhile her son was led in to the beautiful city of Benaras where he was given a grand reception. The whole city was decorated and his own stable was gaily painted and covered with garlands of fragrant flowers. The trainers laid out a feast for their new state elephant who refused to touch a morsel. He did not respond to any kind of stimuli, be it the fragrant flowers or the beautiful and comfortable stable. He just sat there looking completely despondent.

The worried trainers went straight to report the situation to their King, as they were scared that the elephant would just waste away without any food or water. The King was extremely concerned when he heard what they had to say and went to the stable himself. He offered the elephant food from the royal table and asked him why he grieved in this manner. He thought that the elephant should be proud and honoured that he was chosen as the state elephant and would get the opportunity to serve his King.

But the white elephant replied that he would not eat a thing until he met his mother. So the King asked him where his mother was. The elephant replied that she was back home on Mount Candorana and must be worried and hungry as she was blind and had no one to feed her and take care of her. He was afraid that she would die.

The kind King was touched by the elephant's story and asked him to return to his blind, old mother and take care of her as he had been doing all along. He set him free in love and kindness.

The happy elephant went running home as fast as he could. And he was relieved to find that his mother was still alive. He filled his trunk with water and poured it over his sick mother who thought that it was raining. Then she cried out as she thought that some evil spirit had come to harm her and wished and prayed that her son was there to save her.

The white elephant gently bent over his blind mother and stroked her lovingly. She immediately recognised his touch and was overjoyed. Her son lifted her up and told her that the kind and good King of Benaras had set him free and he was here to love and look after his mother forever.

His mother was absolutely thrilled and blessed the kind King with peace, prosperity and joy till the end of his days. She was so thankful to him for sending her son back home.

The white elephant was able to take good care of his mother till the day she died. And when he died himself, the King erected a statue of him by the side of the lake and held an annual elephant festival there in memory of such a caring and noble soul.

The Strong Minded Snake

Once upon a time there was a doctor who was an expert at treating snakebites. One day he was called for by the relatives of a man who had been bitten by a deadly poisonous snake.The doctor told them, "There are two ways of treating this snake bite. One is by giving medicine. The other is by capturing the snake who bit him, and forcing him to suck out his own poison." The family said, "We would like to find the snake and make him suck the poison out." After the snake was caught, the doctor asked him, "Did you bite this man?" "Yes I did," said the snake. "Well then," said the doctor, "You must suck your own poison out of the wound." But the strong-willed snake replied, "Take back my own poison? Never! I have never done such a thing and I never will!" Then the doctor started a wood fire and said to the snake, "If you don't suck that poison out, I'll throw you in this fire and burn you up!" But the snake had made up his mind. He said, "I'd rather die!" And he began moving towards the fire. In all his years, the snake bite expert doctor had never seen anything like this! He took pity on the courageous snake, and kept him from entering the flames. He used his medicines and magic spells to remove the poison from the suffering man. The doctor admired the snake's single-minded determination. He knew that if he used his determination in a wholesome way he could improve himself. So he taught him the Five Training Steps to avoid unwholesome actions. Then he set him free and said, "Go in peace and harm no one."                                  Moral Of The Story: Determination wins respect.

The Lion And the Jackal

Once upon a time, there lived a lion in a forest. One day, when he went to drink water in a river, one of his feet got stuck into the damp mushy mud of the river. He tried a lot to get out of the mud, but to no avail. He had to lie without food for days because he didn’t find any help. On one fortunate day, a kind jackal came to drink water from the river. When he saw the lion, he went closer to the lion and said, “What is the matter? Why are you resting here?” 

The lion narrated him the pathetic story. The Jackal instantly made a way out from the sand but the lion was unable to move his feet. As he was set in the same posture for last several days, his body became stiff. The jackal understood the condition of the lion and helped him to get out of the mud with an extra effort. The Lion was really thankful to jackal for his kind help. He was very happy to get free after so many days.

The Lion appreciated the effort made by the jackal. He offered the jackal to live close to him and also promised to give food to him whenever he caught food. The jackal accepted the offer and started living with the lion. Thus, they lived happily sharing the food. After few years, they expanded their families. The lion had cubs and the jackal had kid jackals. Both, the lion and the jackal were living happily. They didn’t have any idea that their friendship was not liked by their families.

One day after a long time, the lioness, lady of the lion's house, asked her cubs that she didn’t like the amity between the jackal and her husband. The cubs conveyed the message to the kid jackals. The kids complained the matter to the lady jackal. The lady jackal conveyed the complaint to her husband. 

The jackal went to the Lion and asked,” I helped you without any consideration in return. You had asked me to live with you, so I started living with you. Now, if you don’t want me to live with you, you should have told me yourself. What did you involve your wife and cubs to convey this? “. The Lion was shocked to hear such words. He said, “My dear friend, what are you saying? I don’t find any problem with you or your friendship”. He promised the jackal that he had no such ill-feelings for the friendship between them. 

The Lion also promised that he would talk to the lioness and solve the whole matter. The jackal was intelligent and understood the situation. He said to the lion, “Dear friend, I know you are sincere, but our families could not exactly respond the same level of friendship. So, let us stay apart and meet often as friends. We could also hunt together. It would be better, if our families stay apart”. The Lion agreed to the proposal with a heavy heart. 

The two families parted from each other as friends. The Jackal and the Lion continued to share the friendship. They often met each other and hunt together. Thus, the two friends shared a healthy friendship throughout their life. 

Moral Of The Story: Don’t expect your family to reciprocate the same level of friendship you have with someone.

The Intelligent Women

Once upon a time some bandits robbed a village. Then they escaped into a thick forest. Some men from the village chased them. They surrounded the forest and searched it for the robbers, but they could not find them.

When they came out of the forest they saw three farmers plowing in their field. They immediately captured them and said, "Aha! You bandits are pretending to be innocent farmers interested only in plowing! Come with us to the king, you thieves!" They tied them up and took them as prisoners to the king. He locked them in the palace dungeon.

Then a woman began coming to the palace courtyard. For several days she came and cried, as if in mourning.

One day the king heard her cries and asked her to come inside. He asked why she was crying. She said, "I have heard that my husband, son and brother are all your prisoners, my lord."

The king had the three men brought up from the dungeon. Being a generous ruler, he said to the woman, "I will give you one of these three. Which one do you choose?"

The woman asked, "Can't you give me all three, my lord?" The king replied, "No, I cannot." 

After carefully considering, she said, "If you will not give me all three, then give me my brother, oh lord king."

The king was surprised by her choice. He said, "You should choose your husband or son. Why would you want your brother instead?"

The smart woman replied, "Oh my lord, when I go out onto the roadway, a new husband would be easy to find. And then I could easily have another son. A husband or a son is easy to come by in this world. But since my parents are dead, I could never get another brother!"

The king was impressed by the intelligence and thinking ability shown by this simple woman. Some of his own ministers were not nearly as smart! So he decided to reward her. He said, "I return all three to you - your brother, husband and son."

 Moral Of The Story: It's a fortunate brother who has an intelligent sister.

The Tiger And The Woodpecker

Once as a tiger was eating, a bone got stuck in his teeth. He tried hard to remove the bone. A woodpecker saw the tiger’s discomfort and asked what the matter was. The tiger pointed to his teeth. The woodpecker promised to remove the bone from his teeth on the condition that the tiger would always give him a portion of his food. The tiger agreed and the woodpecker took out the bone with its sharp beak.

One day, the tiger was eating and the woodpecker asked for a share. The tiger refused and said, “You should be thankful that I did not kill you when you entered my mouth.” The woodpecker was enraged at the ungrateful tiger. He pecked the tiger in one eye. The tiger roared with pain and the woodpecker said, “You should be thankful that I didn’t blind both your eyes.”

Moral Of The Story: "Tit For Tat."

The Monkey And The Crocodile

Once upon a time there was a clever monkey who lived by the river Ganga. A crocodile and his wife lived in the same river. One day, the crocodile’s wife fell very ill. She wanted to eat something special. She asked her husband to get her a monkey’s heart. 

The crocodile did not know what to do. Then he thought of his neighbour, the monkey. He said, “Friend Monkey, why do you waste your time eating the fruits of this tree? There are juicy fruits on the other side of the river.” When the monkey said that the river was too big for him to cross, the crocodile offered to take him on his back. After a while, the crocodile sank in the water along with the monkey. He told the monkey that his wife was sick and wanted his heart. 

The monkey realised that he had been foolish to trust the crocodile. He quickly thought of a clever plan to escape. He said, “Alas friend! Our hearts are not inside us. We have to keep them hanging on trees. I wish you had told me earlier. Let’s go back and bring my heart.” The crocodile believed the monkey and brought him back to the tree. The monkey at once climbed up the tree and escaped. He said to the crocodile, “You have a big body but no brains!” The crocodile had nothing to do but repent for his foolishness on being tricked by the monkey.

Moral Of The Story: Presence Of Mind Always Works.

The Hare On The Moon

On a full moon day, we can see a mark on the moon which looks like a hare. There is a interesting story about this mark on the moon.

Once, Lord Buddha was born in the form of a hare in a forest in Varanasi. He used to play with his 3 friends, a monkey an otter and a jackal. One day the hare said to his friends,” We do nothing but play the whole day. Let us do some charity. If we give alms, we would be rewarded”.

Hearing this, the monkey climbed up a mango tree and plucked down some sweet and juicy mangoes for all. The otter dived into a river and caught some fish and brought those for charity. The jackal did not know what to do. So he stole some curd from a hut. The hare being so small tried to find something in the ground. But he could find nothing and was disappointed. He came back to his friends and said, ” I could find nothing, so I have decided to give away my body in charity”.

Lord Indra, the king of Gods, heard this. He came down to earth in the form of a monk to test the hare. He reached the hare and said,” I am hungry. Give me something to eat ”. The hare gladly replied,” I can offer you my body”. Saying this, the hare lit up the fire and jumped into it. To his surprise, the fire did not burn him. Lord Indra came to his original form and said,” your act of sacrifice is so great that the whole world will remember you for ages “. Saying this Lord Indra drew a hare in the moon. This mark is there today also and reminds us to help the needy and to give alms to the poor. 

Moral Of The Story: Do charity and sacrifice. Don't be selfish.